Press Release

Station Issues On-Air Apology; Commits to Taking Proactive Steps to Increase Cultural Awareness and Understanding

The New Jersey/National Taskforce Against Hate Media and the New Jersey Coalition for Asian American Civil Rights announces that a mutual understanding has been reached with New Jersey 101.5 FM and parent corporation Millennium Central New Jersey regarding the April 25th broadcast by Craig Carton and Ray Rossi (“The Jersey Guys”), which included disparaging comments and characterizations of Asian and Arab American communities.

As part of this mutual understanding, Carton and Rossi issued an on-air apology on behalf of themselves, Millennium Central New Jersey, and NJ 101.5 FM during their afternoon drive-time show on May 25th. Carton and Rossi acknowledged that a portion of the April 25th broadcast had been offensive and insensitive, particularly to members of the Asian American community.

In addition, the Station has agreed to several long-term objectives and strategies to enhance cultural understanding and awareness among their staff and their listening audience including:

1. Issuance of a public statement that will be available on their website.
2. Refresher cultural diversity and competency training for their entire management team, on-air staff, program directors, producers and phone screeners.
3. Stronger policy against racially derogatory speech.
4. On-air promotion of events within New Jersey concerning the Asian American community. As part of these efforts, the Station will assist in the promotion of the dedication of a memorial event on Saturday, May 28th, 2005 at 11AM in Veterans Park in River Vale, New Jersey to honor Min Soo Choi, an Asian American soldier who served and died in Iraq.

“We are encouraged by the outcome in this matter and by Millennium Central New Jersey’s ongoing commitment to ensure greater ethnic understanding and awareness,” said Veronica S. Jung of the Coalition. “We look forward to working with representatives of the station and company to implement the long-term objectives.”

The New Jersey/National Taskforce Against Hate Media and the New Jersey Coalition for Asian American Civil Rights undertook a month-long campaign to respond to the derogatory statements that were made on the April 25th broadcast. “These included statements that characterized Arabs and Asians as “foreigners” and “fringe groups” who “should never dictate the outcome of an American election,” explained Hesham Mahmoud of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of New Jersey.

“Portions of the April 25th broadcast sent a clear message to Asian communities: that we are ‘un-American’ and foreigners. We hope to work together with the Station and other allies to ensure that such incidents do not recur,” said Deepa Iyer of South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT).

“We hope that in the future, the station will be more sensitive to broadcasts that undoubtedly reach a large number of listeners- including children who are still impressionable,” explained Terry Yang of the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey.

Over the past month, the members of the diverse Coalition—which includes groups such as the Organization of Chinese Americans (New Jersey chapter), the New Jersey Chinese American Federation, the Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of New Jersey, the Coalition Against Hate Media, and the South Asian Bar Association of New Jersey—as well as community members in New Jersey and around the country, have worked together to bring attention to the impact of the April 25th broadcast. These efforts have included a face to face meeting with station representatives, advocacy towards advertisers and sponsors of the Carton and Rossi show, and letter-writing campaigns.

“The strength of the coalition that formed to respond to this incident is its diversity,” said Dennis Chin, a student at The College of New Jersey and a member of the National Asian American Student Conference (NAASCon). “Through our continued collaboration with the Station, we hope to bring about greater cultural understanding of the ethnic communities that comprise the fabric of New Jersey and our country.”

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NATIONAL/NEW JERSEY TASK FORCE AGAINST HATE MEDIA

American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of New Jersey
APIA Greek Alliance:
alpha Kappa Delta Phi Sorority
Delta Phi Lambda Sorority
Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority
Nu Alpha Phi Fraternity
Pi Delta Psi Fraternity
Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority
Asian American Bar Association of New York
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Asian Media Watch
Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey
Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New York
Asian Pacific American Voters Alliance
Coalition Against Hate Media
Coalition Against Injustice
David Wong Support Committee
East Coast Asian American Student Union
Jason Kim – Councilman, Palisades Park, New Jersey
Justice for James Yee Ad-Hoc Committee
Korean American Association of New Jersey
Korean American Association of Greater New York
Korean American League for Civic Action
Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York
Korean American Students Conference
Korean American Voters Council
Japanese American Citizen’s League, Berkley
Japanese American Citizen’s League, New York
Jimmy Meng – Assemblyman, New York
Media Action Network for Asian Americans
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
National Asian Pacific American Law Students Association
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum- New York
National Asian American Student Conference
New Jersey Immigrant Policy Network
Organization of Chinese Americans – National Headquarters
Organization of Chinese Americans – New Jersey
Organization of Chinese Americans- New York
Organization of Chinese Americans- Long Island
Organization of Chinese Americans- Columbus
Pi Alpha Phi at the University of California, Davis
South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow
South Asian Bar Association of New Jersey
Southeast Regional Conference for Asian American Leaders
UNITED SIKHS
Voters Speak Up
Young Korean American Service and Education Center

THE NEW JERSEY COALITION FOR ASIAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS

40 Plus Club
80-20 Initiative of NJ
Asian American Political Action Committee
AALDEF (Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund)
ACPA (American Chinese Professionals Association)
America DBA Online
APALA/NJ (Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey)
Association of Indians in America
CIE-USA/GNYC (Chinese Institute of Engineers USA/GNYC)
EverBright Chinese School
Ever Green Club
Fukien American Association of New Jersey
Huaguang Cultural Association
Huaxia Military Chess Club
Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York
NJAAAHS (New Jersey Asian American Association for Health & Human Services)
NJAALEOA (New Jersey Asian American Law Enforcement Officers Association)
NJALPHA (New Jersey Alliance for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia)
NJCAF (New Jersey Chinese American Federation)
NJCCPS (New Jersey Chinese Computer Professionals Society)
NJHNA (New Jersey Health and Nutrition Association)
North American Si-Suo-Da-Zhan League
OCA-NJ (Organization of Chinese Americans – New Jersey Chapter)
Raritan Valley Chinese School
Rutgers Asian Student Council
Rutgers Chinese Student Organization
Rutgers Vietnamese Student Association
Rutgers’ Chapter – Kappa Phi Lambda
SAPA (Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association)
Sichuan-Chungqing Association
SUNGYU-Club
The Federation of Korean American Associations
Young@Heart

COALITION AGAINST HATE MEDIA (CAHM)

Artists & Activists United for Peace Coalition
Asian Americans For Equality (AAFE)
Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA)
Asian Media Watch
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO NY Chapter
Black Waxx Nation, Inc.
Cardozo Law School APALSA
Chinese American Citizens Alliance, National
Columbia Law School APALSA
David Wong Support Committee
International Action Center
Korean American Association of Greater New York (KAAGNY)
Korean American Coalition, Dallas/Ft. Worth
Korean American Coalition, Los Angeles
Korean American League for Civic Action (KALCA)
Korean American Resource & Cultural Center (KRCC), Chicago
Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York (KALAGNY)
Korean Resource Center (KRC), Los Angeles
Japanese American Citizen League, New York Chapter (JACL-NY)
Justice for James Yee Ad-Hoc Committee
Latin American Integration Center (LAIC)
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) – New York
National Association of Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) AFL-CIO, Branch 294
National Coalition for Civil Rights
National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)
New York Seoul
New York University Law’s APALSA
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) – Dallas/Fort Worth
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) – Los Angeles
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) – Long Island
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) – New Jersey
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) – New York
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) – Westchester/Hudson Valley
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) – Phoenix
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) – South Florida
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) – National
People Advocacy Group
The Sikh Coalition
South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT)
South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY)
SJ Quinney College of Law – Asian Pacific American Law Students Association
St. John’s University School of Law Asian American Law Students Association
United Sikhs
United States India Political Action Committee
Voters Speak Up
Women Against Violence In Entertainment (WAVE)
World War Three Arts Collective
Yale Law School Pacific Islander/Asian/Native American Students Association
Yang Bernhard Entertainment, Inc.
Young Korean American Service and Education Center (YKASEC)